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This book is a synthesis of the results and implications from a series of product-specific import and export process analyses conducted in selected Asian countries. It provides a unique set of micro-level information on the nature, as well as the time and cost, of trade procedures involved in moving goods from factory floor in an exporting country all the way to warehouses in an importing country.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have played an important role in South Asia and remain a critical source for employment creation as well as income generation. SMEs occupy an important position in the development strategy for inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction. In this respect, export-oriented SMEs, supplying competitive products and services with greater potential for backward and forward linkages, would substantially contribute towards higher national income and overall socio-economic progress of nations.

Provisions in some of the most recent bilateral and regional trade agreements - that either have yet to enter into force or entered into force in or after 2009 - are compared with each other and with those included the WTO draft consolidated negotiating text on trade facilitation. The coverage of trade facilitation is found to have become very extensive, with the details of provisions in some agreements matching that in the draft WTO agreement on trade facilitation.

The Asia-Pacific Development Journal (APDJ) is published twice a year by the Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The primary objective of the APDJ is to provide a platform for the exchange of knowledge, experience, ideas, information and data on all aspects of economic and social development issues and concerns facing the region and to stimulate policy debate and assist in the formulation of policy.

How much of international trade costs can be mitigated through implementation of trade facilitation measures and policies? What measures and policies affect trade costs the most? This paper presents findings from an initial analysis of new non-tariff trade cost estimates and their determinants, based on a bilateral database of comprehensive trade cost maintained by ESCAP. Among the top trade facilitating economies are Malaysia, the United States, China, Republic of Korea and Thailand, with Japan and Germany following closely.

The similarities yet differences across South Asian countries, and their differential response to recent food and oil price shocks, gives a useful opportunity to better understand the structure of inflation in these economies. Analysis of the internal and external balance and evidence on demand and supply shocks implies output is largely demand determined but inefficiencies on the supply side perpetuate inflation. Procyclical policy amplifies the negative impact of supply shocks on output.

While much has been said about the need to promote intraregional trade and the importance of reducing associated trade costs, quantitative estimates of such costs have been lacking. A new comprehensive measure of international trade costs is applied in this paper to calculate ad valorem trade costs within and between 4 Asian subregions, including ASEAN and SAARC. Extra-regional trade costs of the 4 subregions with free trade areas outside Asia, such as NAFTA and the EU, as well as their trade costs with China, India and Japan are also calculated.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is about companies operating in a manner that is sustainable, cognizant of their responsibility to the wider community in which they are located. CSR is more than simply acts of philanthropy or allocating a proportion of its earnings to worthy causes;it is strategic in nature, and is about how a business actually functions.

Climate change is one of the greatest environmental issues of our time and the Asia-Pacific region is already experiencing its adverse impacts. Studies suggest that the costs of inaction on reducing the consumption of fossil fuels, the main source of climate change, would be many times the costs of action. This report stresses the need to take decisive steps quickly to get the developing countries in this region on course to make inroads in the global effort to combat climate change and achieve sustainable development and green growth.

The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report (APTIR) is a recurrent publication prepared by the Trade and Investment Division. It aims to deepen understanding of regional trends and developments in trade and investment; emerging issues in trade, investment and trade facilitation policies; and impacts of these policies on countries’ abilities to meet the challenges of achieving inclusive and sustainable development. APTIR 2010 describes and analyses the developments in both intraregional and interregional trade and investment since mid-2009. It is organized in six sections.